Streeter says Clemson, not Alabama, is the best program in the country

Streeter talks to the media Wednesday afternoon

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Feb 07 07:01:03 GMT-04:00 2019

CLEMSON – Brandon Streeter took to the podium Wednesday afternoon and didn’t mince words when he was asked about the state of the Clemson program. The Tigers are, quite simply, the best program in the country right now.

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns and the second-ranked Tigers beat No. 1 Alabama 44-16 in the College Football Playoff national championship game in Santa Clara in early January.

In the fourth consecutive playoff meeting between the Tigers and Tide, Clemson evened the series and beat Alabama for the national championship for the second time in three years. Clemson became the first college football team to finish 15-0 since the 1800s, and the first team since the playoff started five seasons ago to get through a season without a blemish.

Streeter, Clemson’s quarterbacks’ coach and recruiting coordinator, said the win over Alabama has paid dividends on the recruiting trail.

“It's been incredible. It's hard to argue the fact that we dominated that game, and for us to be able to go into the state of Alabama and recruit like we've been the last year or two, things have been changing,” Streeter said. “It's just proof.”

Head coach Dabo Swinney said he did not doubt that they were the best team in the country leading up to the title game.

"People just didn’t really pay attention," he said. "Nothing happened to Alabama. They just played a better team that day. Simple as that. Alabama is unbelievable. They were 14-1. They did an amazing job. Amazing job. We just had the better team. That was my message before the game as I told them early - ‘We got the best team in the country right here.’ I’ve told them that all year. ‘Tonight you get a chance to prove it,’ and that’s what they did, and they left no doubt."

Streeter said Clemson has the best program in the country.

“Obviously, Alabama is an unbelievable program. But we're the best one right now,” Streeter said. “And it's hard to argue that. It's so neat to see our team this year, and especially our seniors, go through that transition of losing to them in 2015, beating them in 2016, and then losing to them again in 2017 and then going out on a high note and beating them this past year. I think it's a big statement, winning by four touchdowns. The coolest thing about that game was the last drive - over a 10-minute drive, the longest in school history. Started on the minus-one, ended up on the five or four and we stopped playing to let the clock run out. Pretty special.”